Wrestling at the Summer Olympics

Wrestling at the Olympic Games was contested at the first modern Olympics, in the form of Greco-Roman wrestling, held in Athens in 1896. Wrestling would appear at every Summer Olympics held since then, with the exception of the 1900 Summer Olympics when wrestling did not appear on the program. Freestyle wrestling and weight classes both made their first appearance at the 1904 Summer Olympics. Women's freestyle wrestling competition was first held at the 2004 Summer Olympics.
In 2013, the IOC voted to drop wrestling from the Summer Olympic program. The president of the sport's governing body, FILA, resigned after a subsequent motion of no confidence, and several of the FILA leadership followed suit. After new leadership stepped in and revisions to the program for the 2016 Summer Olympics, wrestling successfully campaigned to be readmitted back onto the Summer Olympic program.

Summary

Summary of overall best wrestling nation at each Olympics, which includes combining all styles that were contested. Greco-Roman has been contested since the 1896 Summer Olympics, with men's freestyle being contested since 1904 and women's freestyle since 2004.

Removal and reinstatement

In an effort to control the size and costs of the Summer Olympics, and make the Games "relevant to sports fans of all generations", the IOC evaluated the Olympic event programme in place for the 2016 Summer Olympics, and voted on 25 "core" sports that would comprise the programme of the 2020 Summer Olympics. One vacancy was to be left open for a new sport. In February 2013, IOC members voted to remove wrestling from the Olympic programme; The New York Times cited several potential factors in the decision, including the lack of universally-known talent unlike other sports, and concern for the lack of women's competitions in wrestling. FILA, the governing body of Olympic wrestling, immediately criticized the decision. The organization cited wrestling's long-standing history as an Olympic event, which dates as far back as the ancient Olympic Games.
The decision resulted in immediate backlash; Armen Nazaryan and Sagid Murtazaliev both returned gold medals to the IOC in protest, while Nazaryan also staged a hunger strike until the 2013 European Wrestling Championships. FILA president Raphaël Martinetti resigned after a vote of non-confidence by the organization's staff.
Martinetti was replaced as acting president by Nenad Lalović. Under his leadership, the organization began to make changes to its Olympic programme for 2016, including rule changes designed to make bouts faster and encourage more aggression, as well as additional women's weight classes. These changes were intended to help improve audience interest, and address the shortcomings that likely led to the removal of the sport; wrestling joined baseball/softball, as well as squash, on a final shortlist of three sports to be included in the core Olympic programme for 2020. On 8 September 2013, at the 125th IOC Session, the IOC selected wrestling to be reinstated in the Olympic program for 2020 and 2024. Lalović was largely credited for his role in the reinstatement; he remarked that "normally this is done in a few years, we did it in a few months. It was a question of our survival."

Events

Men

Weight classes	96	00	04	08	12	20	24	28	32	36	48	52	56	60	64	68	72	76	80	84	88	92	96	00	04	08	12	16	20	24	Years
Greco-Roman light flyweight																	48	48	48	48	48	48	48								7
Greco-Roman flyweight											52	52	52	52	52	52	52	52	52	52	52	52	52	54							14
Greco-Roman bantamweight							58	58	56	56	57	57	57	57	57	57	57	57	57	57	57	57	57	58	55	55	55	59	60	60	24
Greco-Roman featherweight					60	60	62	62	61	61	62	62	62	62	63	63	62	62	62	62	62	62	62	63	60	60	60				23
Greco-Roman lightweight				66.6	67.5	67.5	67	67.5	66	66	67	67	67	67	70	70	68	68	68	68	68	68	68	69	66	66	66	66	67	67	27
Greco-Roman welterweight									72	72	73	73	73	73	78	78	74	74	74	74	74	74	74	76	74	74	74	75	77	77	22
Greco-Roman middleweight				73	75	75	75	75	79	79	79	79	79	79	87	87	82	82	82	82	82	82	82	85	84	84	84	85	87	87	27
Greco-Roman light heavyweight				93	82.5	82.5	82.5	82.5	87	87	87	87	87	87	97	97	90	90	90	90	90	90	90								20
Greco-Roman heavyweight					+82.5	+82.5	+82.5	+82.5	+87	+87	+87	+87	+87	+87	+97	+97	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	97	96	96	96	98	97	97	25
Greco-Roman super heavyweight				+93													+100	+100	+100	+100	130	130	130	130	120	120	120	130	130	130	14
Greco-Roman open	X																														1
Freestyle light flyweight			(47.6)														48	48	48	48	48	48	48								8
Freestyle flyweight			(52.2)								52	52	52	52	52	52	52	52	52	52	52	52	52	54							15
Freestyle bantamweight			(56.7)	54			56	56	56	56	57	57	57	57	57	57	57	57	57	57	57	57	57	58	55	55	55	57	57	57	26
Freestyle featherweight			(61.2)	60.3		54	61	61	61	61	62	62	62	62	63	63	62	62	62	62	62	62	62	63	60	60	60				24
Freestyle lightweight			(65.8)	66.6		61	66	65	66	66	67	67	67	67	70	70	68	68	68	68	68	68	68	69	66	66	66	65	65	65	26
Freestyle welterweight			(71.7)				72	72	72	72	73	73	73	73	78	78	74	74	74	74	74	74	74	76	74	74	74	74	74	74	25
Freestyle middleweight				73		69	79	79	79	79	79	79	79	79	87	87	82	82	82	82	82	82	82	85	84	84	84	86	86	86	25
Freestyle light heavyweight						80	87	87	87	87	87	87	87	87	97	97	90	90	90	90	90	90	90								18
Freestyle heavyweight			(+71.7)	+73		+80	+87	+87	+87	+87	+87	+87	+87	+87	+97	+97	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	97	96	96	96	97	97	97	26
Freestyle super heavyweight																	+100	+100	+100	+100	130	130	130	130	120	120	120	125	125	125	14
Total	1	0	7	9	5	10	13	13	14	14	16	16	16	16	16	16	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	16	14	14	14	12	12	12

Women

Event	04	08	12	16	20	24	Years
Freestyle flyweight	48	48	48	48	50	50	6
Freestyle bantamweight	55	55	55	53	53	53	6
Freestyle welterweight				58	57	57	3
Freestyle middleweight	63	63	63	63	63	63	6
Freestyle light heavyweight				69	68	68	3
Freestyle heavyweight	72	72	72	75	76	76	6
Total	4	4	4	6	6	6

Participating nations

The following nations have taken part in the wrestling competition. The numbers in the table indicate the number of competitors sent to that year's Olympics.

Nations	4		1	14	18	19	26	29	18	29	28	36	30	44	39	45	49	41	35	44	69	59	75	55	66	59	71	67	61	60
Competitors	5		42	115	170	152	229	166	79	200	207	215	167	338	270	296	388	331	266	267	429	370	401	314	342	344	344	344	288	290

All-time medal tables – 1896–2024

All-time medal table combined – Greco-Roman, Freestyle men's and women's – 1900–2024

Sources:

All-time medal table – Greco-Roman – 1896–2024

Sources:

All-time medal table – Freestyle men's and women's – 1904–2024

Sources: